This is an open letter to Alex – owner of the online directory London Escort Guide.

In view of the serious accusations that have been made against PunterX.com, over the last week or two, and the way in which various third parties have been drawn into the crossfire, we felt it only right and proper to clear the air publicly, and state our position honestly, comprehensively and unequivocally.

In return we welcome a public response from you.  Please note, however, that you will need a username and password, in order to do this – the instructions for signing up are above.  Existing members are also welcome to join in the discussion.

You claim, Alex, that we made a carbon-copy of your website and then simply rearranged the furniture in order to give our own site a different superficial appearance.  Now, they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery – well, we would not deny that your successful business model provided the inspiration for launching our own directory.  You have undeniably made a significant mark on the London escort scene, and we acknowledge the fact that this (and similar success stories) did initially encourage us to embark on our own venture.  But it is insulting (and defamatory) to claim that we took the easy option of copying your html/php/css code: even a cursory examination of our site’s source code would give the lie to this preposterous suggestion.  Our team has spent the last year creating our directory from scratch… often working late into the night, and even proactively ensuring that as we did so we did not inadvertently stray too close to similar material on yours and other people’s websites.  Our meticulousness therefore renders your accusations particularly poignant.  It is a truism that any similarities between our site and yours are simply a matter of functionality – they have similar purposes.  Doesn’t a bicycle have two wheels and a saddle, regardless of the manufacturer?  It is totally fallacious (and misleading to your customers) to suggest that our site contravenes copyright legislation, simply because it looks similar to yours.  An exact copy would be a different matter – then there would be a case to answer.  But clearly this is not so: our source code is different, as is our text.  No reasonable person would suggest that our sites are in any way identical, but this fact can be verified with the Copyscape Plagiarism Checker at http://www.copyscape.com.  For an excellent article on Internet copyright please see Brad Templeton’s article at http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html.

Aside, though, from the personal slights against us we were particularly concerned about your response to our assertion that customers shouldn’t be forced to choose between our respective sites, but should be free to get the best of both worlds.  We sincerely believe that bullying tactics and attempts to maintain a monopoly by issuing ultimata against fee-paying customers have no place in the modern business world – indeed, our own customer service approach is based upon putting advertisers' and punters' interests before any immediate personal financial gain.  This is why we do not charge agencies or independent escorts for entry-level advertising, and why we offer punters a 30-day free trial before our modest monthly rates come into effect.  Your suggestion that we are “clueless in dealing with people” and that we “have no moral compass” was therefore insulting and unfounded, as was your reference to agencies having been “alienated by [us]”, when in reality their requests to be removed from our site were merely a response to your demands.

All this macho “this town aint big enough for both of us” posturing is not what one would expect from a mature business-person such as yourself.  We can only assume that your reaction was ill-considered and ‘heat of the moment’.  Now that you have had time to reflect, perhaps you will be more willing to concede that a little healthy, open competition is good for business, and that it would not be proper to lean on advertisers and force them to choose between our two sites – far better, surely, to let the results speak for themselves?  It is in the best interest of our clients and yours to encourage a free market, with the widest possible customer base and the maximum site traffic.

In fact, here’s an off-the-wall suggestion… in the spirit of cooperation and goodwill we would even be willing to consider a banner exchange between the London Escort Guide and PunterX.com.  This would then clearly demonstrate to everyone that we all have the best interests of the customer at heart.  What do you say, Alex?

Warmly yours,
John